Parachute Jump to be bathed in light for kids with cancer

Parachute Jump to be bathed in light for kids with cancer

The Parachute Jump, lit up in gold last year, will be bathed in light again on Friday. Photo courtesy of Councilmember Mark Treyger’s office

By Paula Katinas

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

When the sun goes down on Friday night, the Coney Island Parachute Jump will be bathed in light as community residents gather on the Riegelman Boardwalk for a ceremony designed to raise childhood cancer awareness.

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Zamperla, the company that owns the Parachute Jump, agreed to a request to light the famous ride as a way of paying tribute to the courage of children with cancer and to raise awareness for the need for more funding for research into a cure, according to Councilmember Mark Treyger.

The event will take place on Friday starting at 7 p.m. at the base of the Parachute Jump, located along the Riegelmann Boardwalk near West 19th Street. The lighting will take place at 7:45 p.m.

In addition to the lighting of the Parachute Jump, the event will include a performance by Art’s House Dance, an appearance by the Brooklyn Cyclones’ Sandy the Seagull mascot and activities for children.

Friday’s event marks the second year in a row that Zamperla has lit up the Parachute Jump for kids with cancer.

The company worked with Treyger and with Frankie’s Mission, a non-profit group that provides assistance to families of children with cancer, on the project.

Treyger (D-Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst) initially reached out to Zamperla last year after the owners of the Empire State Building had denied a request from cancer advocate to light that structure in gold lighting for a worldwide “Go Gold” campaign.

Zamperla immediately agreed to Treyger’s request and a lighting ceremony took place in 2014.

Treyger said the ceremony has a symbolic importance.

“This is a small but important gesture by our community to show these families that they are not alone in their fight against childhood cancer. It was incredibly moving to see all of the support at last year’s lighting, and I look forward to joining residents and families from across Brooklyn on Friday as Coney Island’s iconic Parachute Jump once again ‘Goes Gold’ in support of childhood cancer,” Treyger said in a statement.

For more information, call Treyger’s office at 718-373-9673.

Each year, an estimated 15,700 children are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S., according to the American Childhood Cancer Organization.

Another Southwest Brooklyn community is also showing its support for children with cancer.

Bay Ridge Cares, a group of volunteers who perform charity work, is asking fellow residents to place gold ribbons in their windows and to patronize stores that display signs emblazed with gold ribbons as part of a project called “Go Gold Bay Ridge.”

Teri Brennan, a member of the Board of Directors of Bay Ridge Cares, organized the “Go Gold Bay Ridge” effort.

Here are some of the ways Bay Ridge Cares is asking residents to support the Go Gold effort: shining yellow light bulbs on their front porches and in their front windows; placing strings of yellow lights around their windows; and wearing gold ribbons.

Justin Brannan, vice president and founder of Bay Ridge Cares, said the Go Gold campaign had an inaugural “Go Gold” campaign in 2014 that was a smashing success.

"These children and families who are staring down the unknown and battling the unimaginable, every Go Gold sign they see, every gold bow around a tree, every gold light in a store window will send a little message that they are not alone. That's what this is all about; showing these families that we're all in this together," Brannan told the Brooklyn Eagle via email.

Residents can pick up “Go Gold Bay Ridge” signs in the offices of Councilmember Vincent Gentile at 8018 Fifth Ave., and state Sen. Marty Golden at 7408 Fifth Ave.